Communication & Social Behaviour Flashcards
How human beings communicate with each other?
via sign and signals
Why do infants survival depend on another humans efforts?
infants are unable to care for themselves and they have a long period of dependency on adults providing time for socialisation and leanring to occur.
What is infant attachment?
the emotional tie that binds a baby to its primary carer.
When does the strong emotional tie between the baby and mother develop? What does this trigger in the mother?
as the baby suckles, clings and cries. This triggers the mother’s desire to protect and care for the baby.
What is meant by indiscriminate attachment?
the baby does not favour any particular adult, it will accept food and comfort from anyone.
What is specific attachment and what age does it begin?
the baby is attached to its primary carer and few others (strong bond)
17-20 weeks it begins
(6-9 months)
What is early infant attachment important in?
laying the foundation for the future formation of stable relationships and allows the development of a sense of trust and social skills.
What are infants that form secure attachments more likely to do?
investigate their immediate environment helping develp cognitive abilities.
What is contact comfort?
Human newborns need physical touch and nurturing (close bodily contact). This gives them the sensation of physical well-being & safety.
What does contact comfort play a basic role in?
attachment between human infants and their carer.
Based on Harlow’s monkeys, what are the characteristics of disturbed adults?
over-aggressive
withdrawn
uncommunicatve
This results in infants growing into an inadequate parents.
Describe the strange situation?
allows psychologists to observe a baby with their carer, a stranger and alone.
- Carer brings baby into a room of unfamiliar toys.
- Stranger enters & tries to play with baby
- Carer leaves baby with stranger
- Carer returns & plays with baby, stranger leaves
- Carer leaves baby alone
- Stranger returns
- Carer returns
What is a sign of secure attachment?
immediately wanting comfort from mother
What are the signs of insecure attachment?
baby not beig upset when mother left
concentrated on toys instead of acknowleging the situation
How are children who are considered to be more securely attached more likely to behave in their first year?
Able to form social bonds with peers, group work and problem solving
What are the results for the stranger situation for secure attachment?
Major distress when mother leaves > resists comfort from stranger > goes immediately to mother and then calms dow = perceptive mother
What are the results for the stranger situation for detached insecure attachment?
Indifferent/ only slightly distress if mother leaves > accepts comfort from stranger > Ignores mother or approaches her looking away = mother lacks perception
What are the results for the stranger situation for resistant insecure attachment?
major distress when mother leaves > resists comfort from stranger > both seeks & resists comfort from mother = mother insensitive to baby’s needs
What is socialsation?
gradual modification of a developing individual’s behaviour in order to accomodate the demands of an active social life within the community
What do behaviourial skills provide us with the ability to do?
Ability to react appropriately in social situations, for example being sympathetic, assertive, submissive, forceful, affectionate, demanding, modest, approvign or supportive depending on circumstances.
What do cognitive skills provide us with the ability to do?
Ability to gain the knowledge & develop problem solving skills necessary to function effectively for example to gain employment within society
What do emotional skills provide us with the ability to do?
Ability to form stable relationships and demonstrate feelings towards others
What are the 3 attributes of social competence?
- behavioural skills
- cognitive skills
- emotional skills
What is the quality of a developing child’s social competence affected by?
the method of control adopted by their parents
What does authoritative control generally result in?
children with greater social competences, who are more self-reliant and are more academically successful than permissive control
Describe parents who use authoritative control?
- is warm, nurturing and emotionally supportive towards the child
- sets limits, rules, high standards and explains reasons
- gives direction and expects responsible behaviour in return
- reasons with the child and demonstrates respect
Describe parents who use permissive control?
- is warm and nurturing
- does not set limits, lay down rules or assign responsibilities
- adopt ‘no discipline’ approach
- allows the child to regulate their own behaviour
What is communication?
the exchange of information from one individual to another and it can be verbal or non-verbal
What is non-verbal important in?
forming relationships between individuals and can signal attitudes and emotions as well as acting as an aid to verbal communication
Give 5 examples of non-verbal communication?
- facial expressions
- body language
- smiling in babies
- eye contact
- physical proximity
What can facial expressions convey?
attitudes and emotions
What is a babies form of non-verbal dialogue?
sounds and visual signals such as smiling
How does smiling it babies help increase their survival value?
by helping to ensure the baby will receive food, care and attention.
By the age of 6 months, smiling in a baby is regarded as selective social act, what does this mean?
it is reserved for selected individuals e.g. primary carers.
What is eye contact?
the maintenance of a gaze between 2 people
What does the frequency and length of time of eye contact communicate?
information
What can extended eye contact be an indication of ?
sexual attraction
What is the maintenance of eye contact between strangers?
rare
Why is eye contact often avoided?
it can be embarrassing and uncomfortable
What is personal space?
the generally accepted distance between 2 people
What does increased distance suggest?
dislike
defensiveness
What does decreased distance suggest?
sexual attraction
aggressive behaviour
How is body language expressed?
by posture (sitting stiffly, foetal position) and gestures (nodding head, pointing, folding arms)
What can body language indicate?
state of mind
What can nail biting and hair chewing indicate?
nervousness + stress
What does sprawling on a chair suggest a person is?
relaxed
What is verbal communication used in?
the transmission of knowledge, development of culture and social evolution
What can the way words are said make a huge difference to?
the meaning of the phrase
Give examples of auditory signals that effect the meaning of a phrase? (5)
tone accent emphasis speed of delivery timing
What can speaking at high speed indicate?
nervous/ excited
What can speaking loud indicate?
anger
What can speaking in a monotonous voice indicate?
boredom & fatigue
What is language?
a system that combines basic sounds to make words and can be represented as written symbols (letters).
What can language be arranged into?
simple categories (words) complex hierarchies (phrases, paragraphs)
What is language used in short term for?
day to day use
use of linguistic strategies to our advantage e.g. different tone of voice used when you want something
What is language used in long term for?
transfer of information from one generation to the next
promoting acceleration of learning and intellectual development
What is learning ?
a change in behaviour as a result of experience
Once a motor skill has been mastered e.g. riding a bike, what does repeated use of it establish?
a motor pathway in the nervous system
What does the repetition of a skill thought to result in? What does this lead to?
an increased number of synaptic connections being formed between the neurons in the pathway . This leads to the formation of motor memory for a practical skill.
What will practice of a skill do?
improve performance
What will a lack of practice of a skill do?
result in it becoming ‘‘rusty’’, however it is not completely lost
A great deal of human behaviour is learned through imitation. Describe examples of imitation in children and adults?
Child dressing up in adult clothes. The child is imitating the behaviour of adult relatives or friends.
Adults use imitation for learning new skills. Imitation makes tasks easier to learn and takes less time to learn. For this reason, even manuals will have diagrams or videos of human modelling the activity (demonstration)
When complex or long tasks are broken down in to smaller segments, what can the learner then do?
attempt to repeat the information over and over so that effective learning will occur (repetition)
What is trial and error learning?
process by which an animal (e.g. rat) or human will respond in different ways to stimulus until the correct answer is reached e.g. human trying to solve a Rubik’s cube. involves many trials and errors until the problem is resolved
What is motivation?
the ‘‘inner drive’’ which makes an animal or human want to participate in the learning process
Give 3 factors that can motivate an animal’s behaviour ?
hunger
thirst
sexual drive
What is reinforcement? Give example ?
When behaviour patterns that have positive consequences for the individual are like to be repeated e.g. studying for an exam will result in a pass; therefore, the process of studying to pass exams is reinforced
During reinforcement, what does the reinforcer e.g. a food reward do?
increases the likelihood of the response being repeated
When does positive reinforcement occur?
when the animal or human receives something pleasant or positive after a particular response has been made, thereby increasing the chance of the response being repeated e.g. a dog receiving a biscuit when it is told to sit
When does negative reinforcement occur?
when something unpleasant or negative is brought to a halt when the organism makes a particular response. This increases the chance of the response being repeated e.g. a human discovering that a painkiller cures a headache is likely to use this remedy when pain strikes in the future
